Disclaimer: I not own the writes To Negima or any other intellectual property used in this story

AN: The main character of this story is not an original character. The character's identity (which I hope is not too hard to figure out for fans of her series) will eventually be revealed. And I should probably mention this is my first story here.

It seemed to be an eternity. An eternity within a void of nothingness. An eternity of darkness. An eternity with nothing to do but float endlessly in the abyss and reminisce. With her eyes closed to help replace the perfect blackness with the past. Those days of freedom in a world with friends. She could never see them again and feared that soon even her memories would be lost to eternity. She was already having a hard time picturing their faces and was no longer sure if that was truly them. However she feared this eventuality and lamented her eternity, she would never cry. She could not allow herself to do so for she felt it a bitter betrayal to them. If she gave into sorrow, she would regret her final decision. Her sacrifice. She had given up everything for them. If given the choice, she would gladly do it again.

She was not alone in her prison. Though there was nothing to see, her captor was surely there. She had only ever spoken to her only once. At that time, it was when she first awoke here. She was learned of her fate and was given one gift. The knowledge that her friends had eventually found happy lives for themselves. While she knew not the details of this, the fact that they lived happily ever after had been a great gift. It had been the one thing that strengthened her resolve. It protected her individuality from fading. It kept her sane and whole.

"You truly never cease to amaze me," her captor broke the eternal silence with that same female voice," Anyone else who had been here would have long since faded."

Silence was all that followed for she would not give into this provocation.

"And as willful as ever," The voice spoke as something warm touched her face. Her eyes shot open at this and were greeted by a vision of a young girl shining gold. She seemed somehow familiar.

"Wha-!?" she croaked harshly from an eternity of silence.

"And still able to speak," The girl cut her off," It's very rare that one lasts so long here. So I have an idea. Do you care to hear it?"

She nodded in agreement to the gold figure. I know that face... but where. A smirk appear upon the glowing face.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you," The girl mocked.

"Y-yes," Was all she could manage as she tried to get speak. Memories of old conversations starting to surface. At this the golden figure smiled and clapped excitedly.

"Good!" The golden woman proclaimed warmly," I very much wanted to hear that. Now to the point I guess," The woman went on as she grabbed her prisoner's shoulders while smiling warmly," I've decided to let you see the world your friends and allies shaped after you saved them. To see their legacies... and yours."

As she listened to her captor, she finally realized whose body it was. It was her when she was ten. As the thought came to her, the body had disappeared instantly and the darkness of the void was replaced with gold. She was encompassed in its warmth.

"And the best way to see it... Is to experience this world," Her own mouth spoke against her will.

Konoe Konoemon sat at his office that night going through the usual paperwork. Some of it was for the Kanto Magic Association, but most of it was for the various schools of Mahora Academy. It was midnight and he barely had a quarter of it done. Looks like it's too much to hope for a good night's sleep tonight... The old man thought as he leaned back to look at the nighttime view of Mahora.

That was when he noticed something very wrong. The world tree was glowing. At this the old man quickly contacted his secretary and sent orders for an immediate investigation and to take preventative measures to protect the secrecy of magic. Once done giving his orders, the old man looked down at his unfinished work and then to the tree whose light was beginning to fade. He groaned as he stood up.

"This is abuse of the elderly," He muttered towards the tree as he began to make his way out of the administrative office. As he left the building, he was greeted by Kuzunoha.

"As for your orders, I have already dispatched two groups to handle this matter," She greeted respectfully as she bowed he head. The headmaster stopped and gave an answering nod.

"Very good, who is on the investigation team?" He inquired as the woman raised her head.

"Kataragi-san and Shakti-san," She answered in the same respectful tone.

"hmmm, those two..." Konoemon said thoughtfully as he began to turn away.

"We can handle the rest, Konoe-sama," spoke his head of operations curtly," We can report our findings in the morning. There is no need for you to worry on the matter any further."

"No need for such formalities," He replied with a laugh," With the amount of work I have left, I probably wouldn't get the report until the afternoon for...various reasons. This is a rather unusual occurrence and as such I wish to see to it myself."

"but sir-" She tried to implore.

"No, I insist," He cut her off in a light tone," It's never good to put business like this off," he continued while stroking his beard and ending in a chuckle before finishing with," Now come along Touko-chan!"

Kuzunoha Touko could only look down in chagrin and sigh before following Chief Konoe. They eventually arrived on site near the roots of the world tree. Kataragi soon reported in.

"I found nothing myself. However, I think Sister Shakti-san may have. She went ahead and ask that I report in and wait," The tall man in a black suit reported. At this Konoe raise an eyebrow.

"Hmmmm, did she by any chance give a reason for this?" He inquired with concern showing on his face.

"No I-"

"To preserve a young maiden's modesty," Answered a new voice as it cut through Kataragi-san's own not through volume but by virtue of its sharpness. The nun walked up to the group. She was no longer wearing her long black veil. Instead it was draped over the body of an unconscious young girl, her arms and legs left uncovered, she carried in her arms. The girl was obviously a foreigner. He features belonged in the west along with her long and almost reddish chestnut colored hair.

"Ahem, so where did you find this girl?" Kuzunoha spoke curtly to bring the two men's attention back to the matter at hand.

"She was curled up and sleeping on one of the higher branches," Shakti replied in mirroring curtness.

"Hooo, a child that high up?" Konoemon thought out loud," and no clothing... Are there any signs of an intruder besides the little miss?" He inquired to which both Shakti and Kataragi shook their heads," I see... It looks like the child is somehow the cause for tonight's incident. See to it she is cared for until she is able to answer some questions for me in my office," He ordered in a tone close to his usual one but delivered with a look of authority to the two before turning his attention to Kuzunoha as they left," Until then, I need to know more about her. Get in touch with the magic world. The gate may have just been used."

The girl woke up in a strange white room on a bed. Where am I? She thought as she started to sit up. As she looked around in confusion, a blonde haired busty woman with glasses and a strange- a long white coat walked in. At this moment her disorientation seemed to fade as the strangely alien thoughts became familiar.

"Oh! you're awake," The woman commented warmly in mild surprise before smiling and offering," Are you hungry dear? I can bring you a meal if you wish"

At the very mention of food, her stomach started to growl. She winced. There was no question what her answer would be.

"Oh yeah, bring me some food and keep it coming lady," She happily declared in gusto with a broad smile. Shizuna had to bring hand to her mouth to contain her humor at such a sight and managed a polite chuckle.

"My, what an honest girl you are. And very forward as well. My name is Minamoto Shizuna. You may call me Shizuna," She stated politely but with a bit of mirth as she turned and left the infirmary. The girl didn't have to wait long before she came back with a tray of food and a small carton of milk. She quickly polished it off and asked for me. It wasn't until the fifth tray that the girl finally felt satisfied. In that time, there had been very little in the way of talk besides two words from the girl "more please". Now that she was at least satisfied, it was time to figure out where she was and what was going on.

"Thanks for the grub Shizuna. So now to the big question. Where am I and why am I here?" She blurted out in a somewhat serious tone. Shizuna simply smiled for a few seconds before answering.

"That's actually two questions, related as they are I'm sure, but ones that I can't answer," she replied kindly," but since you seem well enough to ask them, I guess it's time to go meet the headmaster," As she finished answering she walked to the young girl's bed side and helped her up and presented a school uniform to wear. When the girl shot her a look she smiled and said," certainly you don't mean to walk in public like that?"

At this the girl looked down at herself and realized she was only wearing a patient gown. Understanding Shizuna's reasoning now she began to change after Shizuna left the room and waited outside. Somehow everything strange simply became familiar after a second of disorientation. She eventually was dressed properly in the uniform and met up with the woman outside.

It had been two days since they found the girl. She had not awakened yet and there was no information found on her. Of course, they were still waiting on a report from the investigation being performed in the magic world. However, he was now with Professor Akashi discussing what they found upon examining her directly.

"While there is nothing physically wrong with her, we did find one factor startling," Akashi began his report. His gaze held by the papers showing the results of what he was to report. There was no telling what the poor child had gone through or why she was left here...

"What is the problem, Akashi-san?" Konoemon broke silence and bringing Akashi out of his lapse into deep thought.

"She has a large capacity for magic and even seems to have used it, a lot. However, there is no lock," Akashi continued once more," This is usually proof of study or that someone else has been using her powers like a battery... And the strangeness doesn't end there. Further studies of the residual effects of magic within her body shows that someone has forcefully channeled exceedingly inhuman amounts of magic through her and her mind seems to be held by some form of advance magic that is slowly starting to fade. Finally, we also found residual flows of demonic energy. My conclusion on the matter is that someone was experimenting on her..."

Konoemon seemed to frown in thought after hearing this last bit. "Seemed" meaning that Akashi could see the unhappy look in the other man's eyes but not the expression hidden beneath his facial hair. As they stood in silence for a moment to allow the chief to absorb these new revelations, there was a knock at the door followed by a call from the secretary," Minamoto Shizuna has brought the child to see you sir."

"Let them in," Konoemon replied before glancing to Akashi," Until I say so, there will be no further discussion on matter," was all he ordered as his two new guests entered his office.

Those last words the girl heard as she entered the room seemed to be serious. However, it was possible that it was nothing for her to be concerned about. If you start assuming everything is about yourself, you'd just be paranoid all the time, and that wasn't fun.

"So, you're finally awake little one," The ancient bearded man spoke," My name is Konoe Konoemon and most around here simply refer to me as the Headmaster here at Mahora. So what might be your name?"

Silence as a small pain, fear, and the knowledge of old memories fading into oblivion as if they were never there filled the room as she now looked to the ground at her feet. She couldn't remember anything before waking up. However, the pain and fear simply faded into same void shortly after,"... I don't remember," she squeaked out as she raised her head to reveal a single tear that had escaped in that one moment unnoticed to the girl," I don't remember anything..."

The sight of this seemed to shock Shizuna but the old man frowned and nodded to the other guy in the room. He walked to her and placed his hand upon her head and mumbled some quiet gibberish. She thought she felt something else, but it had to be her imagination as the feeling simply faded before the man even removed his hand from her forehead before solemnly speaking a single word," Nothing"

Nothing? As in my head is so empty I might as well not have a brain!? Before anyone could react or say anything more, she kicked the jerk in the shin... HARD.

"Nothing!? How dare you call me stupid!" She cried out as she grabbed the now retreating man's pant leg and delivered another vicious blow, for a child, to the same shin. From a mixture of shock, a little pain, and his balance being thrown off from the follow up, he stumbled and tripped before falling near the headmaster's desk and grabbing it for stability," I may be a kid, but I'm not going to stand by while someone makes a rude joke like that!"

Konoemon could not contain his mirth at the sight of such a spectacle. That girl is a firecracker alright. he let a chuckle slip at Akashi's expense before clearing his throat to get everyone's attention back to the matter at hand.

"So, I take it you are a smart little girl," he grinned and nodded a wink to her," So what's your opinion of magic?"

The girl simply glared at him as if she were considering whether he was serious or trying to make fun of her before speaking with a bit of vitriol," Old man, that joke wasn't funny the first time."

Well, that answers that. Someone erased her memories... He nodded in understanding to the girl before continuing his discussion," Well, looks like we have a slight problem. No one seems to know you. Not even yourself. So we only have a few options," the girl settled down and nodded for him to go on," I would like to enroll you

here at the academy and help you out while trying to find your family," another nod of agreement," very well, then I guess there's only one matter left... Your name."

"Might I suggest allowing me to take guardianship of the child for the time? She can take on Minamoto family name," Shizuna kindly suggested.

"I'm afraid that would not work so well. She's to obviously foreign for a Japanese family name..." Konoemon rejected then a thought came to mind, a wonderfully funny idea. Then again, better not. I'd never hear the end of it from Evangeline if I did that. Not to mention it could cause problems down the road. As he sat there in thought, the child spoke up.

"Ummm, do I really that foreign?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Well, for a Japanese person, you do. However that does not mean you're an uncommon sight around here as this academy has many foreigners as well. And having a Japanese name with foreign looks is possible if you are of Japanese descent but if that were the case, you would still have some Japanese features. As far as I can tell by looking at you, you seem to be of purely western blood. I would like to not draw attention to you so it would be best to give you a western name to match your appearance," Konoemon explained to the child. She seemed to understand to a point and then asked a rather strange question.

"So what are the 'western' names like?" she asked with a straight face.

"I think I have a solution for this," a new voice chimed in standing at the door," I can claim her as an adopted child from one of my many trips around the world"

"Ah, Takahata-san, I guess that would work, but it might cause a little trouble considering the class I had in mind for her," The Headmaster sadly waved his hand in frustration. However, the adoption sounded like a good idea," However you have given me a good idea," he continued on as he turned his attention to the girl once more," How does Konoe Kono sound?"

The girl simply nodded in agreement with a frown of disinterest that said she didn't care as long as they get this business over with. Takahata simply chuckled in at the back of the room. No doubt at the Konoe family trait for unimaginative names.

Two years later, Chao Lingshen stood before her new class. This is it. She thought as she introduced herself. With this, there is no turning back. These next two years will be the most critical-

She stopped mid introduction when she realized that something was wrong. There was a face among the students that she knew should not have been there. She had researched extensively and memorized the faces of her soon to be class mates and the girl she now noticed was not in those records. Who is-

"Is something the matter Lingshen-san?" Takahata questioned with a little concern as he started to follow her gaze.

"Why no, of course not!" She answered hurriedly to distract him from figuring out who was the object of her shock. This is a matter I'll have to address carefully.